"there is a remarkable trend toward fundamentalism in all religions- including the different denominations of christianity as well as hinduism, judaism, and islam. increasingly, true believers are inclined to begin a process of deciding: 'since i am aligned with god, i am superior and my beliefs should prevail, and anyone who disagrees with me is inherently wrong,' and the next step is 'inherently inferior.' the ultimate step is 'subhuman,' and then their lives are not significant.
"that tendency has created, throughout the world, intense religious conflicts. those christians who resist the inclination toward fundamentalism and who truly follow the nature, actions, and words of jesus christ should encompass people who are different from us with our care, generousity, forgiveness, compassion, and unselfish love.
"it is not easy to do this. it is natural human inclination to encapsulate ourselves in a superior fashion with people who are just like us- and to assume that we are fulfilling the mandate of our lives if we just confine our love to our own family or to people who are similar and compatible. breaking through this barrier and reaching out to others is what personifies a christian and what emulates the perfect example that christ set for us."
excerpt from 'our endangered values.'
11 comments:
My god I love Jimmy Carter. He's absolutely right on the money. It is easiest to wrap ourselves in the fake cloak of religious superiority. It is quite difficult to make the choice to love, to treat others with love, and respect. The great Rabbi Maimonides was asked to sum up the Torah - he said "To love others." Bhudda taught love and tolerance. The prophet Mohammed taught love: "Do not let your hatred of a people incite you to aggression." (The Quran 5:2).
"And do not let ill-will towards any folk incite you so that you swerve from dealing justly. Be just; that is nearest to heedfulness" (The Quran 5:8).
So, what do we have instead? Hatred. Violence. All carried out in the name of god, by theomaniacs.
the problem is people who have formulated a new political ideology that borrows from religion. they use these religious idiots as sheep to support them. the militant islamists- al quaida, hexbollah; the militant christians- bushco, falwell, dobson, robertson; the militant jews- sharon, olmert. it is a political movement that masquerades as and uses organized religion to meet its agenda.
There was a chatter I liked in a yahoo user room I used to go to who had a great phrase: "Taliban or Talibaptists, they're all the same to me"
Oh, I miss Sweet Jimmy.
Those are wise words. Thanks for posting them.
Thank you Jimmy Carter. Religion SHOULD be about love for your fellow man, not selfish desires wrapped up in a religious cloak.
The whole POINT of religion is to make men and women better people - to think above our human natures - to be BETTER people.
And of course, I totally agree with you point Betmo.
Jimmy Carter is a true statesman and a great leader. Bush will never be either. A great leader tries his or her hardest not to make mistakes, but recognizes that as a human being, mistakes are inevitable. A great leader takes responsibility for his or her mistakes and does not try to run, hide or blame someone else. Democrats have also been guilty of this, but we have a Republican President with a Republican Congress right now.
To this day conservatives still throw his name out there as being a terrible president, and I cringe when I hear them.
I agree completely with Carter, and it seems to me that religion is becoming more of a political tool than a spiritual one. That is sad, both for society and for spirituality.
Thanks for the post, betmo.
Jimmy Carter..the only president who spoke the truth when he said that he had lust in his heart...
I miss this man!
These words reflect true wisdom. No surprise they come from President Carter.
What we see today is religion distorted by selfishness, greed, and a lack of humility.
Another GREAT post, thanks for it.
betmo: You are right on the money. There's an author out there with a book on this subject, Michelle Goldberg, which she calls "Christian nationalism." The book's entitled "Kingdom Coming" (haven't read it, gonna get it, have read excerpts, heard her on NPR.
This, if I can rant for a moment, is the problem I have with all the bashing of "religionists" that goes on by Leftists, especially in the blogosphere. It isn't really Christianity they have a beef with, it's *this* nonsense. The trouble is, in the Corporate Media, the only faces we see attached to "religion" are those of the Christian nationalists.
Jimmy Carter is a gift to the world. He was much too good a man to be President, which is why he's such a great ex-President. He has used that position to do the things a real leader would do. Shawn has it right: he's a "statesman."
Excellent words from a man I deeply respect! Thanks for sharing and I would love to add this passage to my blog with your permission.
Divajood, you make a very good point. If most people believe in God and the Holy books all call for peace, then why so much fighting?! I think it's because we can't seem to accept diversity. Sad!
Post a Comment